


The Crystal Gems

by rifff123



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF), Septiplier - Fandom, Steven Universe (Cartoon), Youtubers
Genre: Alternate Universe - Crystal Gems (Steven Universe), Angst and Feels, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, I just want everyone to be okay, M/M, YouTubers are Crystal Gems, mostly gay
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-05
Updated: 2020-07-14
Packaged: 2021-03-05 03:29:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 18,049
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25097662
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rifff123/pseuds/rifff123
Summary: Jack is human, except for the gem where his belly button should be. His life was already weird enough, and now there are of bunch of colorful rock people who make his life even weirder.(This is a YouTuber Steven Universe AU, also Septiplier. There is cursing so be warned. And if you're just scrolling through stories and skimming through this description only to skip reading this story entirely, have a nice day anyways)Originally Posted on Wattpad.
Relationships: Dan Howell/Phil Lester, Ethan Nestor/Tyler Scheid, Mark Fischbach/Sean McLoughlin, Marzia Bisognin/Felix Kjellberg
Comments: 5
Kudos: 38





	1. Irish guy gets saved by colorful peepos

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! rifff123 here! This is a project I've been brainstorming for a while, and I finally sat down and wrote the first five chapters. This is a Septiplier fanfic based in a Steven Universe AU! (cue the applause)
> 
> I'm planning to sort of follow SU's plot, but not completely, and honestly I may make up some things for my universe to work that wouldn't necessarily work in SU. My point is, sometimes it will be the same as the show, sometimes it won't be, and I just want to have fun writing this with the characters I'm using.
> 
> Also, be warned, it may take awhile for me to update. Literal months, in fact. There are other things I'm working on, other stories that need my attention. But, trust me when I say that the biggest motivator for me to continue working on a story is if it gets a lot of support. Honestly, I get psyched whenever I get a single, nice comment.... I'm kinda a pushover that way...
> 
> BUT!!! I will never fully abandon a work. (And if a work was popular I'd let u know about any hiatus).
> 
> Anywho, I hope you enjoy these first five chapters. They are pretty much the intro chapters, and after that I have much planned. If you do like them, please please let me know. Let me know if you hate them! I love a good roast. If by any chance you have thoughts, theories, concerns, or ideas about my story, I wanna hear them all.
> 
> Props to whoever made it through this note. LET THE STORY BEGIN!

'Why does the universe hate me so much? I didn't fuck the universe's mother, and yet this shit keeps happening!' Jack thought in frustration as he bounded down the boardwalk, making sharp turns as to elude the creature. He made the mistake of turning his head and saw the beast only a few yards behind him. It was a massive, four-legged animal with a dozen eyes and a yellow gemstone embedded in it's forehead. The monster growled loudly when they made eye-contact, promptly causing Jack to veer off towards the beach in an adrenaline rush.

As terrifying as this situation was, it was nothing compared to the one that had happened two weeks ago, or two months ago for that matter. Jack could only groan as he recalled how shitty his life was, always being chased out of town by some freak and narrowly escaping with his life.

Jack could feel his legs wearing out as the exhaustion caught up with him. 'Fuck, not yet! Damn it, why'd I run to the fucking beach?!' He looked around to search for any possible escape routes, but got stuck staring at the cliff in the distance.

The cliff hung over the ocean, with a hill leading down the other side of it, but the strange thing about it was the fact that the whole cliff side was a carved statue of a magical looking person. The whole scene was so breath-taking, in fact, that Jack lost his footing. "SHIT!" he yelled as he fell hard onto the sand. He rolled around quick enough to watch as the beast pounced, blocking out the sun. Jack squeezed his eyes shut, bracing for the impact of instant death.

It never came.

Jack opened his eyes to see three strangers forming a barrier between him and the monster. The one in the middle shouted, "Protect the human!" and all three leapt into action. Stunned, Jack sat there and watched.

The middle one was a pale shade of pink, and was covered in flowy white clothing. They summoned a gauntlet over their right hand and hit the ground with enough force that the beast was knocked back. The tall one was a shade of magenta, and wore a body suit like a superhero that was part black, part red, even part polka-dotted. They jumped what seemed like a hundred feet in the air, effortlessly. As they reached the peak of their ascent, they whirled around mid-air and shot beams of light out of two hand guns. The monster growled in irritation and stayed distracted. The last one, a purple, masculine being with muscular arms protruding from cut-off sleeves, sensed an opening and produced a magnificent sword. They charged at the creature and slashed it twice, causing it to howl in pain. In a fit of rage, it's long tail whipped out and flung the purple one across the beach, landing near Jack.

The creature bounded towards the purple one at an alarmingly fast pace. Jack snapped out of shock-induced stupor and looked toward's the purple one's friends. Both were racing towards him, but there wasn't enough time! Pushing himself off the ground, Jack sprinted towards him and stood between the purple one and the beast. His heart pounded loudly, and the others shouting at him to move barely registered. The monster closed in, and instead of feeling petrified, Jack felt like something was inside himself, ready to protect them. A flash of light blinded him for a moment, then died down to reveal...

A green shield.

The monster crashed into it, destroying both itself and the shield. Jack watched as the shield dissipated into light and receded into his stomach area. He touched his hand there and wondered 'WHAT THE HELL JUST HAPPENED?'

"Woah." Jack spun around and looked at the purple one, who looked extremely confused. He also looked like..... a guy. "How did you...?" he started, then shifted his focus past Jack.

"Mark! Are you okay?" The pink guy said as he arrived with "Mark's" other friend.

"He's fine." The other one said, almost automatically.

"Dil, we talked about this, let Mark answer the damn question!"

"I'm fine!" Mark chimed in.

"See?"

The pink guy groaned and pointed at Jack. "What is that?"

"How do you expect me to know that??"

"Oh, now you don't answer my questions?!"

Jack's head was started to spin from listening to this conversation. Suddenly, Mark grabbed Jack's shirt from behind and pulled it up. Jack blushed furiously and tried to pull it back down, but Mark's grip was like iron. The three of them stared at Jack's stomach. Right where his belly button should have been, there was a round, pale green gemstone.

Mark's gripped faltered and Jack tugged his shirt back down self-consciously.

"He's... a gem? Felix, have you ever seen anything like this?" Dil asked nervously.

"No. This is something entirely new." Felix said, narrowing his eyes.

"What do we do with him?" Mark asked.

The dizziness hit Jack again, and he found himself losing balance and falling into someone's arms. All energy left him as he slipped into darkness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp, here you go! If people like this I might continue it. If not, I'll probs just move on to something else. I'll let you know what I decide! Feel free to offer constructive criticism, just keep in mind I wrote this a while back so I've already criticized myself quite a lot, lol. Still, it's interesting rereading my own stuff as I'm reposting it.


	2. Kidnapped by fuckin crayons

Jack groaned a bit as he came to. He could faintly hear voices in the same room and waited for his vision to return to normal. He blinked a few times and took in his surroundings. He seemed to be lying down inside some sort of cave? Crystals glittered all around him, relaxing him a bit-

-until he realized he had no idea where he was.

'Shiiiiit, where am I???' he thought as he sat up slowly. He looked around and saw the purple one... Mark? talking to the pink one, Felix.

"You can't be serious!" Mark exclaimed with an exasperated expression on his face.

"We need to keep him here. It's the only way!" Felix retaliated, "I'll poof him myself if I need to!"

"You don't know if that'll work!"

Jack thought back to the monster getting 'poofed' and shuddered. There was no way he was gonna stick around for that. He searched for an escape, and spotted the mouth of the cave. Hoping to take the two by surprise, Jack shot towards the exit.

While his plan did earn him the surprised expressions on their faces, they quickly overtook him and blocked the exit. 'Jesus Christ!' he thought as he came to a sudden halt, 'How are these guys so fast??'

A sound behind him caught his attention as he turned around to see a door open and reveal a rainbow-haired tall guy coming out of another room. Without a second thought, Jack darted through the door as it closed, ignoring the shouts of protest behind him. He ran until he felt safe enough to stop.

As he caught his breath, Jack looked around the room he ended up in. The oxygen left his lungs as he stared up in horror at walls upon walls covered in swords, axes, maces, you name it. Suddenly noticing the heat, Jack realized there were pools of lava all over the place. Before he was able to process this, he heard voices far behind him, and continued to run straight down a long hallway.

The hall led to a room that seemed empty except for a well in the middle. Full of lava.

'Why is everything fucking lava? AM I IN A FUCKING VOLCANO?'

Jack caught a glimpse of something more colorful in the darkened room and stood in awe of the hundreds of bubbles suspended in mid-air. Each seemed to hold a gem. Jack held his own stomach uncomfortably. 'Is that where they would put me?'

His thoughts were interrupted as the magenta one from the beach came in, Dil. They both froze and stared at each other in silence. Then, Dil spoke.

"This is awkward, mate."

Jack regained control of his body and bolted, not wanting to see where that conversation was going. He checked behind himself and saw Dil chasing him. But, he didn't look angry or determined, he looked... worried? Dil stopped and shouted, "Look out for the-!"

He collided with something hard and, in shock, hugged the object in front of him the regain control. Dil came into the room and glanced up nervously. "Hold on, be careful, that's.."

Jack looked up at what he was holding onto to see a gigantic, glowing, crystal heart. He had his arms and legs wrapped around one of the... veins? Ew.

"Look, mate, I'm coming to get you," Dil said carefully, "Just don't. look. down."

Jack looked down.

The sight of a seemingly bottomless pit shocked him into letting go and he fell down, screaming. He seemed to fall forever until finally he landed in something like a pool. Coughing and spluttering, he looked around, finding no easy way to get out. All sides of water fell off, giving him the impression that he was at the top of a water pillar of some kind.

Sure enough, he saw more water pillars in this room, the tallest of which stood in the center. A pale blue guy stood at the top, balancing on the water effortlessly. Jack went pale. This guy had a sword.

Jack heard the familiar sound of a door opening to see Felix and the rainbow-haired guy he got past before coming inside. They shouted for the blue guy.

"There's a human in the temple!" Felix yelled.

"A what?" the blue guy shouted down.

"A HUMAN." Felix raised his voiced, slightly annoyed, "We need to FIND him."

"Oh. Okay." the blue guy's eyes fell on Jack, and his face lit up. "Found him!" he said, gesturing with his sword.

"WHAT?!"

"I. FOUND. THE. HU. MAN." the blue guy shouted down, but Jack was already paddling away frantically.

"Quick, stop him!"

Jack swam over the edge and plummeted down, sliding along the water as it looped and twisted like a crazy waterslide. He ended up in yet another pool, this time with a shoreline.

"I am being chased through a bat shit crazy cave by a bunch of walking crayons." Jack mumbled to himself as he dragged himself onto land.

"And I'm drenched and cold and freaked out!"

"Why me?"

"Stupid fucking non-bellybutton!"

Jack's mumbling had become progressively louder and more insane sounding, so much so that he was too distracted to notice the person in front of him before it was too late. He ran straight into him, falling backwards onto his ass. Breath catching in his throat, Jack looked up to see Mark, the purple crayon, standing over him and smiling.

Mark held out a hand. "We've got to stop meeting like this."

Jack stared at Mark's hand, then looked up at his face. His hair was black and fluffy, falling over the left side of his head. He had a scruffy beard that perfectly lined his smile, and deep brown eyes. They seemed kind, but what if it was all a trick? Mark seemed to understand, taking a knee in front of him.

"I promise I won't poof you. I just want to talk."

Weighing his options, Jack narrowed his eyes and gingerly took Mark's hand. The purple being pulled him up, until they were both standing awkwardly in front of each other. Finally not running for his life, Jack took a moment to take in the view in awe. He had come in via waterfall that entered through a hole in the ceiling. Surrounding him now was a ginormous, cool cavern, lit only by the glowing crystals sticking up like stalagmites. Curiously enough, there was a section of the cave roped off by hanging sheets, obscuring the view of what lay within.

Mark cleared his throat, snapping his attention back to the present situation. 

"I think it's time for answers."


	3. Nobody gets anywhere and manly gem jumps off a cliff

Jack swallowed uncomfortably. He was back where he woke up, and it was at least mildly nice to be able to see the beach through the cave entrance. Unfortunately, the view was quite literally overshadowed by a very nosy weirdo.

"Who are you?"

"Where are you from?"

"Why do you have a gem?"

The one asking all the questions was Felix, Jack remembered. Up close, Jack could notice his white hair, pink at the ends, his scruffy beard, and his blue eyes. Actually, it was impossible not to notice. He was leaning over and scrutinizing Jack like he was on trial. The man began to grow defensive.

"None of your fucking business!"

Felix glared at him, and that's when Mark stepped in.

"Back off, Felix, he's just as confused as we are."

Felix turned on Mark, probably about to yell at him, when Dil piped up from the side. "You are being a tad intense." After that, Felix seemed to calm down a little.

"Look," he started, "We've just... never seen anything like you before. I need to know you're not dangerous."

Jack felt these strangers stare at him, searching for answers as well. He sighed.

"I just- I don't even know who you are. Or even what you are." Jack said, "Today has been absolutely insane. Monsters, rooms made of water and lava, colorful, magical people? It's insane. It's overwhelming, and and it's..." Jack trailed off, tugging at his arm.

"It's scary."

Jack looked up to see sympathetic and almost ashamed looks throughout the room. They all seemed to agree on something and then all looked right at Jack. Felix spoke first.

"We are the Crystal Gems."

"The Crystal Gems?"

"Yes." Felix continued, "We protect you humans from magic creatures like the one that attacked you."

Jack tried to grasp he was saying. "So, you guys definitely aren't human?"

Dil laughed, "Oh yeah, purple humans are a thing now. Nope, we are Gems." With that, they all showed off the gems in their bodies. Dil had a dark red one on each hand. Felix had a pink one on the back of his right hand. Mark had a purple one on his chest. "I'm a Garnet." Dil continued, "Mark is an Amethyst, and Felix is a Rose Quartz."

"Our bodies are like physical manifestations of light that come from our gems." Mark explained. "I know it's confusing, but it's the easiest way to explain it."

Jack shook his head, "No, I sort of get it. But how, er, why do you guys protect humans?"

They all looked at each other. "It's..." Felix replied, "It's complicated."

"I'll bet."

"So, um, what we don't get is exactly why you have a gem when you're very clearly a human." Dil explained, "You even summoned a weapon from it, if you count a shield as a weapon."

Jack blushed, "I've, uh, never done that before. The shield thing."

"But you've always had a gem?" Felix inquired.

"For as long as I can remember."

Silence fell upon the room as everyone fidgeted a bit awkwardly.

Mark cleared his throat and spoke, "So... is it okay if we see it again?"

"What??" Jack said, panicking slightly.

"You don't have to!" Mark assured him quickly, "It's your choice. But I promise, we won't touch it or do anything that makes you uncomfortable."

They all waited, and Jack sighed in defeat, raising up his shirt once more to reveal a pale green gem, glimmering subtly in front of the other Gems. He tried to keep his face from going too red.

The other three crowded around, staring in awe. For a minute, no one said a word. Then Mark beamed at Jack. "You're a Pearl!"

Jack stuttered, "Wh-what?"

"A Pearl!"

"A Green Pearl, specifically." Felix added, "I haven't seen one in a few thousand years."

Jack's head was spinning, "My gem is... a Green Pearl? What does that mean?"

Dil smiled. "It means Ethan's going to flip out."

"Ethan?"

"That's for later." Mark exclaimed, "You are like a human-gem hybrid. That's so cool!"

"Interesting." Felix said. Jack wasn't sure he liked the way Felix looked at him. Before he could say anything, however, Dil suddenly went very still and the others turned toward him.

"What is it?" Felix asked sharply. Dil straightened the large shades he wore, rustling the wavy bangs of his dark, emo haircut. "We need to warp, now. There's a gem monster terrorizing a town on the West Coast. It'll take the three of us to stop it."

"But what about Jack?" Mark asked, worried.

Felix narrowed his eyes at Jack, and he narrowed his eyes right back. "Well, we can't very well let him wander around the temple, he could hurt his fragile body."

"Hey!"

"Where's Tyler?" Felix asked, completely ignoring Jack's outcry. Mark scratched his chin. "I think he went up to the lighthouse? Give me a second."

Mark ran outside the cave and craned his neck until he was looking straight up. He waved his arms around and yelled, "HEY TYLER! GET DOWN HERE!"

At first, you'd think that nothing happened. But Jack heard a sort of high-pitched whistling noise, then looked at the sand to see a steadily growing shadow. His eyes widened in realization and a millisecond later, a large mass hit the ground outside, shaking the whole cave and sending sand flying everywhere. When the dust settled, a huge, greyish Gem with short, rainbow hair stood in the middle of a crater. If he weren't paralyzed with shock, Jack would've recalled that this was the Gem he dodged on the way into the temple. 

"D-did he just j-jump down from a fucking cliff?!" Jack exclaimed, regaining his ability to speak.

Mark, standing next to the Gem and covered in sand, didn't seem the least bit fazed. "This is Tyler." he said cheerily.

Jack gulped, "H-hi."

Tyler nodded in acknowledgement and wore a stony expression that set Jack on edge. Mark took notice of this.

"Aw, don't worry, Tyler's a sweetheart once you get to know him." At that remark, Tyler glared at Mark. "Why am I here?"

"Oh yeah. We need you to watch Jack while we're gone."

"Why?"

"Because I said so." Felix stepped in, "We need to go. Keep an eye on him, and don't let him into the temple."

Tyler narrowed his eyes, then nodded, and the three made their way over to a circular slab of crystal before the door.

Mark waved at Jack, and Jack waved back, unsure what to say. The crystal beneath their feet glowed and shot a light beam all around them, teleporting them away. Jack turned back to Tyler, who had his arms crossed and was intensely staring at him.

This was going to be fun...


	4. Fun day with bros but the bros are rocks

Jack looked the grey gem up and down, his eyes falling on the gem in his right shoulder. It was a multi-colored square stone that seemed to sink inwards into his arm. He chuckled nervously, "So, uh, your gem is... an innie?"

Tyler locked eyes with him, and Jack felt an awful amount smaller with this guy towering above. Then, a ghost of a smirk appeared on the gem's face.

"You could say that. Technically, it's a Bismuth."

His voice was a lot deeper than Jack's, but the tone wasn't as intimidating as Tyler's features. Then again, the guy did have short, curly, pastel rainbow hair. Jack felt a little more at ease.

Just then, the door to the temple opened, revealing the blue gem from the waterfall room. "I can't find him anywhere guys-" he stopped, and his eyes widened when he saw Jack. A smile quickly lit up his face.

"Tyler, you found the human!"

Tyler shook his head, "Mark found him."

"Whaaaaat and he didn't tell mee? Wait, where is everyone?" The gem said, looking around, deep blue hair floofing around his head bouncily.

"They're on a mission. Felix ordered me to watch him." Tyler stated, then went right back to staring at Jack. The blue one rolled his eyes, "You're taking this way too literally. Also, you kind of look like you're going to murder him."

Jack blanched at the thought. "Please, don't."

He heard a squeal of delight, and the blue gem was in his face. "You have an accent!" he exclaimed, "Are you Irish?!"

"I, uh-"

"Oh, sorry, how rude of me. I'm Ethan, and I'm a Blue Pearl." The blue gem stood back and put his arms on his hips. He was skinny, and a bit shorter than Jack. His pearl shone bright on his forehead. Jack stared at it. "A pearl, huh?" he thought out loud, hand to his stomach.

Tyler's eyes switched between the two. Then he stuck out his thumb towards Jack. "That's Jack. He's human. He also has a gem."

Ethan gasped, "Really?? How? Where?" This guy's constant energy was a little funny. Jack smiled shyly and pulled his shirt up, revealing his own pearl.

Both gems stared. Well, more specifically, gaped. "This-you-it's a-" for a moment, Ethan seemed to lose all ability to articulate. Suddenly, he jumped forward, tackling Jack in a hug. He lost his balance and the two tumbled to the ground.

"I CAN'T BELIEVE THERE'S ANOTHER PEARL!!!" Ethan shrieked. Jack awkwardly patted the smaller gem's back.

Large hands grabbed Jack and Ethan by the arms and hoisted them up the their feet. Jack sent a look of gratitude towards Tyler for prying Ethan off him. The blue gem was still just as bubbly. "Another Pearl! Well, Green-Half Human-Pearl! Can you believe this, Tyler?"

"Yes."

Ethan went on passionately while Tyler uncrossed his arms and looked deep in thought. Watching the two of them was amusing, to say the least. Jack could tell that the two were good friends, despite them seeming very different.

"So?" Ethan looked expectantly at Jack and the man realized he had been deep in thought as well. "Er, sorry, what was the question?"

Ethan laughed. "I asked if you wanna hang out outside? We could go up to the cliff, it's beautiful up there!"

"Sure." Jack smiled, and the blue pearl grabbed his arm, tugging him out the cave opening. Tyler was following close behind.

Outside, Jack could the town and boardwalk, looking to be only a few minutes walk away. The ocean stretched on for miles in either direction. Turning around, Jack looked up in awe. The cave stood at the base of a magnificent cliff. Carved into the land mass was the guise of some gigantic being with numerous arms and gems sticking out in various places. It was even cooler up close, albeit old and falling apart slightly.

Ethan noticed Jack's expression and smiled, "Yeah, it's pretty sweet. But you ain't seen nothing yet." The three circled around the cliff until they came to the back and started to make their way up the hill to the lighthouse. On the way, Ethan filled the silence.

"So, I didn't get the details, but Felix came to my room and said there was a human in the temple! Then I saw you, but you fell down the waterfall. That was insanely dangerous by the way."

Jack huffed, "Well, I wasn't really there by choice. How would you feel if you were kidnapped by a bunch of weird, colorful aliens?"

Ethan snorted, "Yeah, they are pretty weird. But isn't everyone?"

"I heard Felix say he was going to 'poof' me." Jack said with a grimace. Ethan rubbed the back of his neck. "Felix isn't that bad once you get to know him." he offered. Behind them, Jack heard a scoff, and turned to see Tyler rolling his eyes. Somehow, the Bismuth didn't seem to agree with that statement.

"He's a really good leader," Ethan continued, "and he just wants to protect us at the end of the day. Even if he can be kind of-"

"An asshole." Tyler interrupted. Ethan's lips pressed into a tight line, then he let it go and carried on. "You met Dil and Mark, right?"

At the memory of Mark, Jack's heart skipped a beat. "Yeah, he- they were really cool."

"Oh yeah, Dil is great. He's kind of awkward, but he's funny. When it comes down to it, he's super helpful in a fight. He's one of the strongest on the team!" Ethan beamed, "And Mark's probably one of the best gems you'll meet. He's an awesome friend."

Tyler nodded in agreement. Jack smiled to himself. He didn't think he would end up liking these people so much, but after hanging out for a while, they really grew on him. Ethan stopped walking and Jack realized that they made it to the lighthouse. The tall structure towered over them, covering the three of them in shadows. Jack ventured farther to the edge and gasped at the sight.

From up on the cliff, you could see everything. The town, the beach, and the expanse of ocean in front of them. The sun was setting in the distance, bathing everything in a gold and orange light. He sat down, leaning back on his arms to enjoy the view. Ethan and Tyler sat by him as well. Tyler closed his eyes and wore a serene expression, and Ethan watched Jack's own eyes sparkle in wonder.

"Welcome to Beach City, Jack."


	5. Getting answers and getting the feels (and making fun of Tyler)

That night, Mark, Felix, and Dil finally found what they were searching for. "There!" Felix pointed at the gem monster hidden in the trees of the forest. It screeched and jumped several branches away. "Let's go!"

Mark summoned his sword, pulling it from the gem in his chest. It was a long blade that shone pink and purple, and the handle was a deep red. He grasped it and charged forward, watching the creature dart through the trees.

"Mark, tree!" Dil yelled. Mark stopped short of running face first into a tree trunk. "Uh, yeah, I knew that was there." he said sheepishly, "Thanks anyways, Dil."

"No problemo." Dil stopped beside Mark and summoned his pistols and began shooting upwards. "What are you...?" Mark asked until he saw what Dil had done. There were a dozen holes in the ceiling of leaves surrounding the creature. It screeched, seemingly scared to go close to the rays of light shining through.

Felix appeared on Mark's other side. "Perfect, now that it's confined to one tree, we should be able to catch it."

"I got this!" Mark rushed forward, and started scaling the tree. "Mark, wait!" Felix tried to stop him, but soon the Amethyst had made it's way to the top. "Alright, Screechy." Mark said, facing the creature, "It's just you and me!"

Close-up, he could see the dark beast's features. It had four spidery legs it used to hold onto the trunk, and six beady eyes. The gem was on it's back, and Mark inched forward as it snarled. He could hear Dil trying to tell him something.

"What?!" he yelled, then realized he's let his guard down. "Dammit!" The creature hissed and shot something forward out of the gaping hole that was it's mouth. It wrapped around Mark, constricting him and causing him to drop his weapon.

Dil yelled again, "I said watch out for it's tongue, you wanker!" The creature had it's tongue wrapped around Mark and pulled him closer to its mouth. "A little help, guys????" he cried.

Felix summoned his gauntlet and punched the tree trunk as hard as he could. The whole thing came down, Mark and the beast tumbling down with it. In mid-air, the beast lost its grip, loosening Mark's arm enough to re-summon his sword. It sliced swiftly through the creature's body, leaving only the gem left as the rest of the monster vanished in a puff of smoke. Mark felt pretty good for all of a second, then realized he was still falling.

"AAAaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaAAAAA!!!" he screamed as he fell. Thankfully, the tree's branches and leaves broke his fall. Not thankfully, it still hurt like hell.

Felix approached Mark as he lay groaning on the ground and swiftly kicked him in the side. "Ow, what the fuck!"

"That's what you get for being a fucking idiot!"

"I got the gem, didn't I?" Mark held up the creature's black gem. Felix put his face in his hands and muttered something like 'give me strength' and sighed. "C'mon, we should go back and check on our guest."

Mark's face brightened. He scrambled to his feet and quickly encased the gem in a purple bubble, then tapped it, transporting it back to the temple. The three began to walk back to the warp pad.

As much of a rocky start as they had gotten off to with Jack, Mark had a really good feeling about him. Granted that feeling may have had something to do with Jack's crystal blue eyes, or his fluffy green hair, or how cute-

Mark shook his head, trying to compose his thoughts. He caught Dil smirking at him, and glared. "I can tell you're looking at me under that visor, Dil!"

Dil chuckled, "Are you thinking about Jaaaaaack?~" he said all sing-songy. Mark hated that.

"None of your business."

"Oooooooooooh~ that's adorable!"

"You wanna fight me?!"

Felix sent the two of them an icy look over his shoulder, shutting the two up. The warp pad gleamed ahead of them, and they all took their places on it. Before they warped, Felix turned to him.

"Mark." he said seriously, "When we get back, we are going to get some answers from Jack." Before Mark could interject, he held up a hand, "I know you think we can trust him. I'm not so sure. I understand that the questions I'll be asking could be personal, but the safety of this team comes first. I'd rather have Jack feel uncomfortable if it means I can clear up any doubt about him or his intentions."

Mark looked down. "I understand, Felix." He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked back up to see his leader wearing a soft-smile. "That said," Felix continued, "You're a good judge of character, Mark. In the end, I will take your opinion into account."

He smiled back at Felix, nodding. The warp beneath their feet activated and the three were soon whisked away through a beam of light. They soon appeared back at the temple, and greeted with a strange and amusing sight.

"IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII'M TYLER, AND I HAVE HAMMERS FOR HANDS!"

"IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII'M TYLER, AND I CAN JUMP OFF A CLIFF WITHOUT A SCRATCH!"

"IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII'M TYLER!"

Ethan and Jack were doing really bad impressions and laughing their asses off while Tyler sat on the ground, head in his hands. Mark stifled a laugh, seeing his stone-faced friend look so defeated. Ethan noticed them and waved. "Oh, hey guys, we were just hanging out!" he tried to say while rubbing the tears out of his eyes.

Jack giggled, "Charades got a little out of hand." Then he and Ethan shared a look and they broke down all over again. Mark thought it was adorable.

Dil laughed, "Well, turns out two Pearls are stronger than one Bismuth." Tyler looked up and narrowed his eyes. "Say that again, Dil."

"Sorry, sorry, one and a half Pearls are-" Tyler sprung up and turned his fists into hammers, then charged. Dil made an 'eep' sound, and ran around Felix, Tyler pursuing him.

Speaking of Felix, he looked exasperated. Mark had seen an expression of this caliber only on Felix and the parents of human toddlers.

Tyler finally cornered Dil, prompting the latter to summon his guns again. Mark caught Jack's worried expression and reassured him. "Don't worry, this happens all the time."

Jack smirked. "You all are insane."

"Yep!" Ethan quipped, then jumped at Tyler, hanging on to his back. Mark and Jack laughed as Tyler tried unsuccessfully to throw Ethan off him as Dil slunk away. Soon, however, Felix approached Jack, and everyone quieted down.

"I'd like to ask you a few questions." Felix stated simply. Jack seemed conflicted, then glanced around the room, at Dil, then Tyler, then Ethan, and finally Mark. He offered the half-human a smile, putting him at ease. "Okay." Jack said.

Felix nodded in acknowledgement, "We already know that you are part gem, part human. However, we don't know how, and we don't know you. Who are you, Jack? Where are you from?"

Jack swallowed, and, looking a bit uncomfortable, began.

"I honestly don't know who I am. That's hard to believe, I get it. But up until a few years back, I have no memories of who I am or where I came from." he looked around nervously, like he didn't think we believed him. Felix nodded again, "Go on." Mark listened intently as Jack went on.

"So, er, I was found on a beach by a woman, just kind of washed up I guess. She was really kind. Gave me a room in her house to stay in, called my Jack. The name sort of stuck, and then-" some tears appeared in his eyes and he quickly wiped them away, "Then, there was this huge beast that attacked and-and... I think it came for me? I got away but it-it hurt her and.." he sniffled, "I just couldn't go back after that."

"That makes sense." Mark thought, "Gem Monsters barely ever approach humans, but they tend to hone in on the Crystal Gems whenever they're nearby. And since Jack has a gem..." He knew he wasn't the only one in the room who wanted to comfort Jack, but no one dared interrupt Felix's questioning.

Jack tried to compose himself, "Uh, so, yeah, I've just kind of been drifting from place to place since then. People say I have an Irish accent, so I guess that's something. Or maybe nothing."

Felix took all this in, thinking deeply. Mark hoped he wouldn't be too harsh. Felix spoke, "You are... perplexing, Jack. But, I do believe you. I'm just sorry we don't have any answers for you."

Everyone stared at Felix, surprised. 'Felix never apologizes...' Marks thought, astounded.

Jack smiles sadly, "It's fine. Today has been... probably the best day I've had in a while. Being here, hanging out with Ethan and Tyler, getting to know you guys... it made me feel like part of.." he trailed off.

Mark came to the heart-breaking realization that Jack had never had a family before, or at least not one he could remember. He looked to Felix who met his eyes, and something unspoken passed between them. Felix nodded and Mark immediately stepped forward, pulling Jack into a hug.

"You're a part of our family now." he said, pulling away. Jack looked surprised. Then, tears rolled down his face as he pulled Mark into a hug this time. Mark gladly reciprocated it, and soon Ethan joined in.

"YAY, JACK'S A CRYSTAL GEM!" Ethan exclaimed. The others looked on, smiling at the newest member of their group.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, how were these first five chapters? Hopefully good. I'll probably end up Steven-bombing chapters from time to time, so you few people who actually read my stories have time to comment on everything I'm fucking up. Laters :P ;)
> 
> Edit: I'll repost the other chapters later, I'm tired and hungry, lol.


	6. Mark beats this fool with tehe power of love

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title is based off Markiplier Makes Fanfiction btw

Jack held his shirt up, waving his hand in front of his gem. It, stubbornly, did nothing. He groaned and fell backwards onto his bed.

It had been a few weeks since he was indoctrinated into the Crystal Gems and his shield had yet to appear. Day after day, the others would go out on magical missions, poofing gem monsters and such, and he couldn't join them. Most of the time, Jack hung around his makeshift room in the cave (When the others realized Jack had human needs, they "borrowed" a bed, fridge, and bathroom appliances from a nearby department store).

With a flash of light, Mark and Dil warped in. Dil had a bubble in hand containing some artifact, and immediately ventured into the temple, the door magically opening and closing in correspondence with his gems. Mark's face brightened when he saw Jack and he came over.

"Hey Jack, what's up?"

"Nothin."

Mark raised an eyebrow at his somber tone. "What's wrong?" A brief look of panic spread across Mark's features, "Did you eat? You humans need to eat, Jack!"

Jack snorted, "Yeah, Ma, I ate."

"Then what's going on?"

With a sigh, he confessed. "I'm just bummed that I can't summon my shield. If I can't summon a weapon, I can't start going on missions with you guys, and I'm bored out of my fucking mind here!" Jack picked up a crumpled up piece of paper and threw it at the trash can in the "kitchen." It bounced off the rim and landed amongst a dozen others.

Mark patted Jack's shoulder. "You probably just need some more practice, that's all."

"It's not just that, though. I can't summon it because I don't know how to do it. What's it supposed to feel like?" Jack looked at Mark, "How do you do it?"

Mark looked surprised and then smirked, "Well, I just think about how awesome I am." he said confidently, showing off his muscles, "I mean, how can a weapon refuse to appear at the call of a handsome Gem like me?" Jack chuckled, but still looked slightly downcast. Mark thought for a moment and had an idea. "Why don't you ask the others? Felix is out, but I think Tyler and Ethan are training on the beach. Maybe it'll help you figure out your method."

Jack's eyes widened and he smiled. "Alright, that sounds solid. Thanks, Mark!"

"Anytime." Mark called after him as the Irishman bounded out the cave entrance.

Said Irishman nearly got skewered as a sword flew past him. "Whoa, the fuck?!"

"Careful Ethan." Tyler called as he deflected the sword easily with his hands-turned-hammers, "You shouldn't throw your sword like that, you almost killed Jack."

"Sorry Jack!" Ethan laughed nervously, his hand rubbing the back of his neck.

Jack rolled his eyes. "No problem, it's not like I need my organs or anything."

Tyler and Ethan came closer. "We're in the middle of training, did you need something?" Tyler asked gruffly. Ethan batted Tyler's arm. "Don't be rude. What can we do you for, Jack?"

"Well, this may be a personal question but... how do you summon your gem weapons?" he asked.

Ethan smiled, "Having trouble with your shield?"

"...Maybe."

"Well, worry no longer! I'm an expert." Ethan stood back and got a determined expression on his face. "Come at me!"

Jack went pale. "What? Why?"

"Just do it!"

Tyler nodded at Jack, probably trying to be encouraging but coming off as severely disinterested. Jack swallowed and took a starting stance, then lunged at Ethan.

Ethan closed his eyes and the pearl on his forehead began to glow. As Jack neared, Ethan raised his hand to his gem and grabbed the handle of something. He drew it out fast and side-stepped, a confused Jack tumbling to the ground. When he looked up, he was at the business end of a long, sleek sword. Ethan smiled sweetly, "Like so."

As the sword was moved, Jack got to his feet, gaping. "How did you do that?" Ethan brandished his blue, musketeer-like blade, swinging it quickly through the air.

"Whenever I need to summon my sword, I just get really hyped up." Ethan stated, grinning, "The adrenaline of battle, the feeling when your opponent is upon you, that's how it feels to summon a weapon!" 

Jack was impressed, but Tyler shook his head. "That's not how I do it." the Bismuth said simply. The green-haired man looked towards him, curious. "Alright, what's your way?" Jack asked.

Tyler shrugged, and his gem glowed on his shoulder. His hand morphed into large, mallet-like hammers from before. "If I will it, it happens. Everything I need to summon my weapon is already inside me."

Ethan groaned, "Stop showing off how profound you are!" Tyler glared at the blue gem. "Oh, like you weren't showing off before! Besides.." Tyler's hands returned, "In actual combat I prefer weapons of my own design."

"You make weapons?" Jack asked. 

Tyler nodded, "In my forge."

Jack grinned, "That is so badass." He was met with a smirk.

"So, were we helpful?" Ethan inquired. Jack contemplated the question for a moment, wondering if he was any closer to summoning his shield. "Maybe." he answered, "But I think I'll ask Dil about it, too, if I can find him."

"Heyo." Jack jumped as Dil seemed to materialize right behind him. "Jesus, you fucking scared me!"

Dil laughed, "Sorry, but I had to, that was hilarious." Tyler and Ethan giggled in agreement. "I had a feeling you needed my help." Dil continued.

"Yeah, Jack is asking us all how we summon our weapons." Ethan said excitedly.

"It's an insightful experience." Tyler added.

"Well, uh, let me think." Dil put one hand on his hip and the other on his chin. As one of the shorter guys in the group, Jack couldn't help but feel slightly intimidated by Dil's towering figure. Not to mention his eyes were always completely obscured by his visor. However, underneath the looks, he had learned that the garnet was actually really cool, sometimes a bit awkward, and was always nice to Jack.

Dil lowered his hands and bit his lower lip. "Ok, it's sort of hard to explain, but... when I summon my weapon I focus the energy of the universe, how there are infinite possibilities, positive and negative, and always a balance. Then, I channel that energy into my gem." Taking a deep breath, the gems on Dil's hands glowed and produced two large pistols, one red, one blue.

The three of them stared at Dil, no one having anticipated the conversation going this deep. Dil blushed and his pistols vanished. "At least, that's how I do it.."

"That was... amazing..." Jack said, "You all have different ways of summoning your weapon that are unique and awesome... I just wish I felt closer to summoning my own." Jack sighed.

"Well, you'll probably have a unique way too, once you figure it out!" Ethan said encouragingly.

"And what if I don't?"

"You will." Everyone looked at Dil, who avoided their gaze. "I mean, probably." he added, "Probably you will."

Jack felt a little better. "Thanks, guys." At that moment, everything felt at peace.

At least until it started raining rocks.

"What the fuuuuu-" Jack managed to get out before being shoved out of the way. A crater lay in the spot where he had been previously standing, at the center of which was what looked like a round, green rock. More of these came raining down, and the four of them took shelter behind a giant stone hand that looked like it had fallen off the temple years ago.

"What is happening??" Ethan yelled as on rock landed by him. He reached out to touch it, but Dil quickly grabbed him by the wrist. They all watched in horror as the green rock began smoking, then turned from solid to liquid, melting away and taking some ground with it.

"Acid." Tyler muttered, and Jack peaked between the fingers of the hand at where these poison projectiles were coming from. Floating above the beach was a massive green eyeball, shooting the acidic cannonballs towards them. They seemed to come out of the gem that acted as it's pupil.

Jack swallowed, knowing that this must be a gem monster. "We can't let it get near the town!" he said, and the others silently agreed. Dil summoned his guns. "I'm going to draw it over there with my gunfire." he pointed to the edge of the water, "Then Ethan and Tyler should be able to attack it from behind."

As Dil took off, luring the beast away, Tyler and Ethan summoned their weapons in preparation. "Stay hidden." Tyler directed Jack as the two stepped out of their cover. Seeing his friends fight made Jack feel even more useless than before. Now, he was stuck on the sidelines, forced to be the bystander. Still, he quietly rooted for the others, peaking out slightly to watch.

Tyler and Ethan were nearly upon the eye when things went wrong. Mark came running out of the cave with sword in hand, probably having seen Dil attacking it. The eyeball turned it's attention on Mark, and now Tyler and Ethan were in it's peripheral. No use sneaking up on it.

Mark defended himself with his sword, batting away some of the projectiles and dodging others. Tyler and Ethan were soon caught in it's range as well to try and help Mark, and the growing amount of attackers didn't intimidate the beast in the slightest. If anything, it only became more angry.

"Look out!" Tyler got hit by one in the chest, knocking him back. Ethan quickly chased after him. Mark was alone and Jack was terrified. He stepped outside his cover in a moment of instinct, not knowing how to help but clearly wanting to.

"Jack!" He turned to see Dil calling to him, probably about to tell him to stand back. Surprisingly, Dil then turned back to the action, bringing Jack's attention with him. "Mark!" Dil then called.

"Kind of- AH! Busy!" Mark answered, narrowly getting missed.

"Tell Jack how you summon your weapon!" Dil yelled seriously. Jack was baffled and looked to Mark, who was blushing. "I..." Mark trailed off

"Mark, NOW!"

"I think of my friends, okay??" Mark yelled, still dodging, "And how- they always- have my baaAAAAAACK! AndhowIwoulddoanythingtoprotectthem!!"

Jack stood there for a moment, taking it in. Suddenly, it all made sense to him. The Irishman sprinted to Mark, ducking and weaving his way through until he got there. Mark looked astonished when Jack halted in front of him, firmly standing between the Eye and the others.

"Jack, get out of the way!" someone yelled, but Jack tuned the fear out. All he thought about were his friends.

Dil.

Tyler.

Ethan.

Mark.

He could feel the power in his gem grow as the eye shot at them. In a flash of light, Jack's shield appeared, big enough to cover them all. The others stared in awe, then composed themselves and took a fighting stance behind him.

Dil smiled and started shooting at the creature again. Frustrated, it spun around, shooting acid rocks in all directions. As Dil dodged them on his side, the others closed in on the Eye, thanks to Jack's shield. Close enough at last, Jack summoned more strength and pushed his shield forward. It flew through the air, and as the monster came back around, connected directly with it's eye. While the shield may have vanished afterwards, the impact was real, and the Eye spun backwards, too disoriented to continue attacking.

Jack fell to his knees, panting heavily. He watched the others jump forward and attack the beast, poofing it and gaining it's gem. There were cheers all around, and Mark picked Jack up in a bear hug.

"You did it! That was amazing!" Mark put Jack down and proudly grinned at him. Jack was winded, but otherwise okay, and definitely excited. "I can summon a weapon!" he thought out loud. For a long moment, he and Mark just stood there grinning at each other. The next, the others gathered around, all congratulating Jack.

Jack turned to Dil, who had the gem secure in a dark red bubble. "How did you know that Mark could help me?" he inquired. Dil shrugged, "I... I just assumed you and Mark would summon weapons the same way. You two are pretty alike." Something about the explanation made Jack feel that Dil was leaving something out, but everyone soon moved on.

"So, Mark, you always said you summoned yours by being awesome." Ethan said slyly, "Turns out, you just think of your pwecious fwiends!"

Mark glared, "Shut up, Ethan!"

Everyone laughed, and Jack noted how red this purple man was getting.

"He's about to unfriend all of us." Dil teased.

"Then who would he think of to summon his sword?" Tyler quipped, smirking.

"You guys are the worst!" Mark yelled, and stomped back inside. Jack had a thought and ran after him.

"Wait up!" Jack caught up to Mark. "I just wanted to say thanks."

Mark smiled a little. "Yeah, well, thank you too. You really kicked ass."

Jack nodded, "I have a question."

Mark gulped.

"Uh, sure."

"Aw we fwiends???" Jack said with the smarmiest look he could muster. Mark looked betrayed. "NOT YOU TOO!!" "Aw we fwiends, Mawk?" "GET AWAY, TRAITOR!"

Behind them, the other gems watched the amusing scene.

"Felix sure missed a lot today!" Ethan exclaimed.

"We should let him know what happened." Dil said.

"He may even be ready for missions soon." Tyler added.

A brief pause, and then the silence was broken by a loud sniff from Ethan.

"They grow up so fast..."

The other two agreed, and they all went inside to join Jack and Mark. They spent the rest of the day hanging out, celebrating Jack's milestone, and being a general nuisance to Mark's sanity. That night, Jack felt at ease, like he was finally becoming a useful member of the team. He fell asleep looking forward to the future.


	7. Ethan feels blue :'(

"Jack, get your butt out of bed!" Ethan yelled, throwing a pillow at the sleeping man. Jack made a sound of surprise and countered the attack with a pillow of his own. Alas, he missed.

"Give me one good reason not to kick your ass right now for waking me up."

"I'd like to see you try! Besides, then you wouldn't be able to go on a mission..."

Jack sat up like he'd been hit by lightning. "A mission?! Really?!"

Ethan grinned, "C'mon, get up already!" Jack jumped out of bed beaming, then he threw on a dark tank top.

"When are we leaving? Do I need to bring anything? What type of mission?" he fired off all his questions at once, too excited to pause for an answer.

Just as Jack seemed about ready to explode, the temple door opened and Mark and Tyler came walking out. "Did Ethan tell you about the mission, yet?" Mark asked.

"Well, I'm trying." Ethan laughed. Jack blushed and chuckled awkwardly. The four of them sat down and began discussing the mission. The objective was to warp to the Sea Spire, a construct in the middle of the ocean, and save it from falling apart.

"This needs to be placed at the top of the Spire on a special pedestal." Tyler said, holding up a beautiful little statue, "When the full moon is directly overhead and its light hits the statue, the Spire will restore itself. If not, then the place will crumble into the sea."

"But that won't happen because we've got this!" Ethan exclaimed, pumping his fist into the air. The pearl's enthusiasm was contagious, and Jack soon found himself grinning too.

Mark smiled, then took the statue and gave it to Jack. "Since this is Jack's first mission, Felix said we should let you try to handle the situation. Tyler and me will be there to help out, but you and Ethan get to call the shots." Jack nodded, but looked at Ethan, confused. Ethan seemed to know what he was wondering. "Technically, this is like my fifth official mission, so I haven't been on a ton." Ethan shrugged.

Jack gaped. "Really? Why not?"

Ethan waved his hand in dismissal, "That's not important! The point is that we are going to be amazing, Jack! Let's do this!" The Irishman smiled, and fist-bumped the blue gem. "Yeah! Let me grab some things!"

As soon as Jack had stuffed some supplies into a backpack, the four of them stood on the warp pad, ready to go. "When we're warping, be sure to keep your arms and legs in." Tyler warned. Jack swallowed and watched as the crystal they stood on began to glow. In an instant, the light shot upward, and any semblance of gravity had dissipated. At first, Jack struggled to keep balance, but a strong hand grabbed his. He looked up at Mark's face, smiling shyly. Mark smiled back, pulling Jack a bit closer.

Then, the light was gone and they stood on another pad. The sudden return of gravity made Jack stumble a little, but Mark's hand gave him the balance he needed. "Thanks." he said as he let go. "It's fine." Mark said nicely, "This is the type of thing you get used to after a while."

"Jack, look!" Ethan grabbed Jack and pulled him away from Mark, off the warp pad. Jack nearly gasped when he saw where he was. The ocean had pulled apart, leaving a huge space in which the Sea Spire stood. He gaped at the walls or water that surrounded them, then down towards a seemingly bottomless abyss. "This place must stretch all the way to the bottom of the ocean.." he said in awe. Glancing at Ethan, Jack could see the amazement in his eyes as well. The Blue Pearl pumped his fist in the air in excitement. "Let's GO!"

They crossed over a long bridge to make it from the edge of the water wall all the way to the Spire itself. However, the end of the bridge was nonexistent, dropping off into the swirling darkness below just a couple yards from the Spire. Ethan scoffed.

"Pssh. I can make that jump, easy." But before he could move, Tyler grabbed Ethan's arm and shook his head. "Not that simple." he stated, scooping up a stone and and throwing it across. The stone got halfway over before being pulled directly downwards by an immense amount of gravity.

'It must be the same type of forces that keep the ocean from collapsing in on the tower.' Jack thought, 'We won't get across without being pulled down.'

"What should we do?" he looked back at Mark and asked. Mark's eyebrows danced around as he replied, "You tell me~"

'Oh, that's how it's gonna be.' Jack rolled his eyes and concentrated on the problem.

"Maybe we can throw something faster or heavier?" Ethan suggested half-heartedly. Jack's eyes widened quickly as he got an idea. Pulling two ropes out of his backpack, he tied one around his waist and handed the end of the rope to Mark. "Hold on tight."

"Wait, what are you-" Mark got cut off as Jack jumped off the edge of the bridge. Ethan gasped as Jack flew through the air. Just as the Irishman began to get pulled down however, he threw the other rope, catching it on the other side.

Then came the tricky part. Jack got pulled down hard, and Mark strained to keep hold of the rope. The half-human gritted his teeth and pulled himself up slowly, using the second rope as his aid. Finally, he hefted himself onto the ledge of the Spire and stood up, beaming. The others sighed in relief as Jack stood triumphantly on the other side.

After fastening the rope he had worn securely on both sides, the other Gems used it to climb across. Ethan practically tight-roped across, although he lacked his usual bounce. Jack attributed this to the gravity. When Mark came across, he gripped Jack's shoulders tightly. "Don't. Ever. Do that. Again."

Jack laughed nervously. "Heh heh... Sorry, Mark. Did I scare you?"

"What? Scare me? You? What??" Mark marched onwards, decided that no answer is the best answer. Tyler gave a quick nod in passing. "Good job." The warm feeling in Jack's chest grew at the compliment. He turned to speak to Ethan, but the blue boy was already walking by.

"Yep. Good job." he said quietly without looking up. Sensing Ethan's strange behavior, Jack kept an eye on him as the four climbed up the Spire. His other eye, however, was astonished by the architecture. The walls were intricately carved with wavy lives and the shape of diamonds. The staircases were lined with breath-taking statues. Though the Spire was in ruins, literally crumbling around them, Jack could still picture what a gorgeous place it must have been thousands of years ago.

A shriek from Mark pulled him out of his trance.

"Relax. They're just crystal shrimp." Tyler said as Mark backed up.

"Well, you may be thick-skinned enough to walk on by them Mister Invincible, but I can't and Jack definitely can't!"

As they argued, Jack caught sight of the shrimp. There were dozens of them all over the floor, scuttling about quickly. He gulped at the sight of the crystal shards adorning their shells, deadly sharp.

Ethan summoned twin swords and smiled. "Well, I can take care of them at arms length!" He stepped forward and swiped at a nearby shrimp. His sword clanged loudly against its shell, and the shrimp was only knocked back. It seemed to hiss, and suddenly a bunch of tiny shards flew out of it at Ethan. The Blue Pearl squeaked in alarm, but before they hit, Tyler jumped in front of him, taking the hit. The shards merely bounced off him, though. The shrimp slunk away, somewhat pissed.

"Woah, are you two okay?!" Jack asked concerned.

"We're fine." Tyler replied, and Ethan pouted, his swords dissipating.

Mark nudged Jack. "Got any ideas?"

Jack looked around at the shrimp and nodded. Pulling a sandwich out of his backpack, he chucked it to the far end of the room. Immediately, all the crystal shrimp flocked there, clearing the way for the team to proceed.

Ethan's eyes widened. "How did you know that would work?" he asked incredulously.

Jack shrugged, "Same way to get rid of seagulls. The only downside is now I have no lunch."

Mark laughed and even Tyler chuckled a bit and that, both giving Jack a thumbs up as they went along their merry way. Jack couldn't help but notice Ethan's silence yet again. "Are you okay, Ethan?" he tried asking. The Gem quickly smiled. "Never better. Let's go!" Something seemed forced about it, but Jack chose not to pry any further.

Nearing the top of the Spire, they walked into a room with water gushing out of it, so much that it cascaded out over the edge and into the abyss. The torrent blocked their way, the final staircase lying just on the other side. The rest of the room was mostly bare, only consisting of a few decorative pillars.

After surveying the room, Jack noticed that Mark and Tyler were staring at him intently.

"What?"

"Well, you've just come up with so many great ideas today..." Mark trailed off.

"We thought you may have another." Tyler finished.

"Oh." To be honest, Jack was feeling a little out of ideas at the moment. But before he could say anything, a loud thud drew everyone's attention to the edge of the torrent. Ethan stood victorious, one leg on the fallen pillar stretched across the water.

"I made us a bridge!" he said loud enough that dust seemed to fall from the ceiling.

'Wait..' Jack's eyes followed the dust trail up the the cracked ceiling the pillar had hidden before.

"Ethan, be careful.." Tyler pleaded, concern drifting over his features.

Ethan's own features twisted into anger. "Be careful? When Jack jumps off a cliff it's all high-fives, but when I solve our problem it's be care-!"

"LOOK OUT!" Jack spotted the ceiling crack and crumble before the others and dove forward to Ethan. Standing by his shocked friend, he summoned his shield overhead. The rubble hit his weapon at such an angle that it knocked him and Ethan backwards into the water.

"Ethan!"

"Jack!"

Mark and Tyler cried out, but were preoccupied by the growing amount of ceiling falling on top of them. The rushing water whisked Jack away, and no matter how hard he struggled, he couldn't distance himself from the edge of the waterfall closing in. He felt himself go over and let loose a scream at the nothingness below him.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" his scream was cut off by someone grabbing the hood of his hoodie, stopping his descent. He looked up, and saw Ethan, sword wedged within the waterfall, gripping onto its hilt for dear life.

"You're-" Ethan grunted, "Too... heavy..."

Jack shed his backpack immediately to help alleviate the burden. It fell and fell until it was out of sight. "Shiiiiiiiiiiit." Jack cursed, "I don't want to die today!"

Then, without warning, Ethan swung his entire body upwards. With a yelp, he landed on the edge of the Sea Spire. Looking down, he watched in amazement as Ethan summoned another sword and climbed up to him. When he reached the top, Ethan collapsed in a puddle, heaving lungfuls of air.

"Are you okay man?" he asked. Ethan nodded slowly, and sat up, drawing his knees into his chest. Jack looked out over the water, alarmed to only see a pile of rubble on the other side.

"Mark?! Tyler?!"

After a moment, he heard a reply. "We're fine! Just stuck on the other side of this pile! It'll take us a few minutes to get through, so hang tight, okay?!"

Jack sighed in relief. "Ok! We're okay, too!"

But looking at Ethan, he wasn't sure if that was the truth. The Blue Pearl looked devastated. Jack sat beside him and held his shoulder gently. "Hey.."

Ethan turned his head, making a small sound in response.

"Talk to me, Ethan. What's wrong?"

Ethan took a deep breath and looked at Jack. He had tears in his eyes. "I'm sorry, that whole thing was my fault, UG, that was so STUPID!"

"Hey, hey, hey." Jack rubbed his shoulder, "We're fine, it was one mishap, that's all!"

"But it wasn't just one! I made so many mistakes today, and I've been on missions before! You're completely new to this, and yet you had so many great ideas!"

Jack suddenly felt a pang of guilt for not noticing this before. Ethan sniffled, "The others... Tyler... he probably thinks I'm weak."

"Weak? Are you kidding me?" Jack said loudly, "You're anything but weak!"

Ethan looked at him unconvinced. "Yeah, how?"

"You were just as ready to throw yourself across that gravity gap! And the shrimp? You barely flinched when you went to face them! Hell, YOU SCALED A FUCKIN' WATERFALL! THAT'S AWESOME!"

Jack beamed at Ethan, leading the blue boy to smile a little as well. "I guess it was pretty cool.."

"Pretty cool? I fuckin' peed my pants, it was that cool." The two snickered, and Jack continued, "Everyone makes mistakes or has an off day. That doesn't mean shit. You're awesome, and everyone knows it."

"You're pretty awesome too, Jack." They got up and Ethan pulled him into a hug. Just as they pulled apart, Mark and Tyler came bursting through the rubble. They bounded across the river easily, 'because of course they could', and quickly checked over the two of them. Mark was doing his best mother hen impression.

"Are you hurt? Bruised? Broken?"

Jack laughed, and pulled Ethan over. "I'm fine. Ethan here made sure of that."

Ethan sheepishly looked up at Tyler, who stood stone-faced and cross-armed. "Sorry about the ceiling.." he said quietly. Tyler smirked and ruffled his hair, muttering something only Ethan could hear. Ethan giggled and smirked back, then mouthed a quick 'thanks' to Jack.

Finally, they were at the top of the Sea Spire, staring at a grand pedestal. Tyler looked up at the sky. "Not a moment too soon." he said, "The moon is directly overhead. Mark, hand it over."

"What?"

"The statue."

"I don't have it."

"Then where is it?"

"I gave it to Ethan!"

"And I gave it to Jack."

"Yeah, then I put it in my backpa-" Jack suddenly remembered chucking his backpack over a waterfall. He locked eyes with Ethan and they both voiced a concurring thought.

"Shit."

A ray shot down from the moon, hitting the pedestal and causing it to crumble. The floor cracked violently around them and on all sides, the ocean came crashing in. The Sea Spire crumbled in moments, leaving the salty waves to swallow the empty space. Then, after a minute, four figures surfaced, all gasping for air.

"You guys okay?" Mark panted, doing a head count.

"Yep." Tyler replied.

"I'm dying." Jack coughed.

"I feel like a million bucks!" Ethan exclaimed, splashing Mark in the face.

Jack slapped himself. "I can't believe I threw an irreplaceable relic into the ocean..."

"It's okay Jack." Ethan said, swimming close to him and smiling, "Everyone makes mistakes."

"I destroyed a fucking building, Ethan. That's a little bigger than average mistakes."

"Hey, don't feel bad." Mark joined in, dunking Ethan, "I destroy buildings all the time."

"Somehow, that's not hard to believe." Jack felt a little better.

At least until-

"So, are we swimming back, or?" Tyler spoke up.

"Oh."

They floated around for a few hours until a boat passed by and rescued them, then sailed to the closest warp pad, also taking a few hours. By the time they got back to the temple, they were cold, wet, and prune-ish. Felix came home to find all his team collapsed on Jack's bed at 3:00 in the afternoon. That is, except for Dil, who was drinking a cup of tea in the corner, contemplating existence. Suffice to say, Felix didn't even want to know.


	8. The endless search for Takis

Jack opened the fridge just as he heard the warp pad activate. Curious to see who it was, he glanced over, only to smile when he saw Mark appear. Mark smiled back when he saw Jack.

"Where were you at?" Jack asked, rummaging around for food.

"Just another mission. Dil sent me to deal with a Gem Monster while he tries to recover the Sea Spire statue from last week." Mark shrugged, like it was no big deal. Jack cringed a little at the memory, but shrugged it off as well. "How does Dil even know where these monsters ar-?"

"Where are the Takis???!!!!!" Mark yelled, Jack turning to see his friend staring scathingly at an empty cupboard.

"Huh. I guess we're out." Jack replied, looking in the cupboard as well.

Mark shook his head vigorously and looked at Jack with a determined gleam in his eye. "We need Takis. NOW."

"I will never get your obsession with these chips..."

"It's not just the chips! The powder on them makes them the best snack in the universe! If I could just buy Taki powder, but it doesn't work that way, so we need to get Takis now or else I'm going to get hangry andyouwon'tlikemewhenI'mhangry!!!"

"OKAY CALM DOWN!" Jack yelled at Mark, who throughout his rant had progressively gotten closer until he was gripping Jack's arms like a madman, "We'll just go out to get some!"

Mark immediately brightened, "Oh, yeah! Let's go!"

The Amethyst grabbed Jack's arm and whisked him out of the cave and onto the beach before he could get out another word. As Mark continued to make his case on Takis, Jack looked ahead towards the boardwalk. He hadn't been there in a while, to be honest. Ever since that day the gem monster chased him to the beach, he had been staying in the cave, only leaving to take a short walk or hang out by the lighthouse. If anything, this meaningless search for chips might give him a chance to explore the neighborhood.

They walked all over the boardwalk, seeing if any food trucks or restaurants offered the snack. Jack's eyes lit up when he saw a pizza place. The was also a fries stand with a very creepy looking mascot. The two of the speed walked away from that for sure. Finally, they tried the donut shop.

"WHY!?" Mark cried, causing one customer to spill his coffee. Jack apologized awkwardly and turned back to his friend. "It's a donut shop, Mark. I don't know what you expected."

"I expected Takis, Jack!"

Jack pinched the bridge of his nose and took a deep breath. "Ok, well, where'd you fuckin get Takis last time, then?"

He could almost see three dots appears in a sequence as Mark tried to remember. The Amethyst's eyes flew wide open and he smiled as he grabbed Jack by the shoulders. "BOB!"

Jack blinked. "Um, Jack. Not Bob. Jack."

"No, no, my friend! Bob!" Mark continued, "He lives close by. Oh man, I haven't seen him in forever!"

"Wait, are there more of you?!" Jack asked confusedly as Mark pulled him through the donut shop doors. As the doors shut behind them, ringing a cheery bell, everyone in the shop seemed to let out a relieved sigh.

After walking about two blocks, they stopped in front of an average looking house. "Here it is! Right near the car wash!" Mark said excitedly. Jack was still moderately confused at this point, as it sure didn't look like the dwelling of a mystical gem being. Briefly, he wondered if Mark had taken him to the wrong house. However, he snapped out of the daze when he saw Mark waltz right into the garage.

"Wait, Mark, you can't just walk in! That's illegal!" Jack whisper-shouted from right outside.

"Pssh, it's fine, I used to do this all the time!" Mark said loudly as he opened the door and went inside. Jack cursed quietly as he followed possibly criminal friend inside.

"Mark?" Jack called, looking around nervously. He seemed to be in someone's living room.

"Aah!" Jack jumped at the yell and turned to see a tall man with a beard looking at him, freaked out. "Who are you? How did you get in here??"

Jack, equally as shaken up as this other guy, spewed out as much as he could think to say. "Aaag I'm so sorry, I followed my friend Mark in here because he thought this was his friend's house..."

"Wait, wait, did you say Mark?"

"Er.. yea?"

The man sighed and motioned for the Irishman to follow him. "C'mon, I think I know where he is."

He was led down to the basement where, lo and behold, Mark was sat on his ass playing video games with a dude in glasses.

"Mark!" Jack cried indignantly. What he left out was "Fuck you and your leaving your friend behind to deal with an awkward situation bullshit!"

"Jack, hey! And Wade, you're here!"

The guy in glasses, without looking up, spoke, "By the way, Wade's here."

Mark got up and walked over, "Guys, this is Jack! He's a Crystal Gem in training. Jack, these are my human friends, Bob-"

"Heyo."

"-and you've met Wade."

"Yeah, he screamed when I came into the living room."

Mark and Bob burst out laughing, while Wade tried uselessly to defend himself. "There was a stranger in the house! He could've been a burglar!"

"Yeah, Wade. A green-haired, Irish burglar who is way smaller than you." Bob said with a smirk. Even Jack had to laugh at that point. It was pretty ridiculous.

"Ok, ok, I see how it is." Wade began to walk off all hurt, but Mark followed him. "Aw, c'mon, we're just messing with you, I missed you!"

"I can't say the same."

"Oh! I'm wounded!"

Jack chuckled at the two's antics and felt a nudge. He looked to Bob, who held up a controller.

"Ever played Prop Hunt?"

He smiled and took the controller. The four of them spent the day playing Prop Hunt and other games, and had the best time. Jack really liked Mark's friends. Bob was smart and honestly the most hilarious person you could meet. His comedic timing was impeccable. Wade was a lot of fun as well, and ended up being the butt of a lot of jokes. He never took it seriously though, it was all in good humor. At the end of the day, Mark and Jack disembarked with armfuls of Takis and an invitation to come back anytime.

"I didn't know you had other human friends." Jack mentioned on the way back, "Should I be jealous?"

Mark laughed and bumped into him playfully. "Nah, Jack. There's no one who could take your place."

His heart warmed at that answer, and he looked on towards the beach as his reflected upon what had turned out to be an absolutely awesome day.


	9. Dil can't deal with anything, especially smoke

"Hmmmmmmmm." Jack looked over the three white cards in his hand intently, then back to the faces of the three gems at the table. "Gentlemen, there were many good contenders for 'When I pooped, what out came out my butt?' Such as:"

He put down one card. "Free Ice-cream, yo!"

And another. "Eighth graders."

And another. "Daniel Radcliffe's delicious asshole."

"But, only one card stole my heart." Jack put down the last card, which read thus:

"A sex goblin with a carnival penis."

Mark, Tyler, and Ethan all eyed each other and realized the sad truth. "It was fucking rando again??" Mark screamed. Ethan and Jack burst into laughter while Mark threw a fit, and Tyler put the black card in a large pile at the end of the table.

"I demand a recount! Daniel Radcliffe's asshole was clearly the funniest!"

"Sorry Mark, The Card Czar has spoken."

Mark pouted, "Whose idea was it to throw in a random card every round anyway?"

Tyler snorted. "Uh, yours."

"Untrue!"

As they continued to squabble, Jack noticed the temple door open and Dil came out. He waved at the tall Garnet and called over. "Hey, wanna join our Card Against Humanity game?"

Dil looked nervously at Jack. "Oh, uh, no, that's all right. I just need to um, do some... stuff." he said super not suspiciously.

"Oh yeah, like what?" Ethan joined in, "We have no missions!"

Just then, Felix warped in, capturing everyone's attention. His white clothes flowed with him as he stepped down gracefully. His face, however, seemed tense. "Crystal Gems, we're going on a mission."

Ethan smacked himself. "I jinxed it."

"We need to recover and destroy an ancient scroll from the ruins of Brazil. It's infused with gem tech, highly unstable, and the humans on the site are at risk of being injured by it." Felix continued.

Jack stood up excitedly, "That sounds awesome! When do we leave?"

"Slow your roll, Jack." Felix turned to Dil, "Who should be on this mission?"

Dil adjusted his visor, and Jack thought he saw a glint of light behind it. "Definitely you. Mark and Tyler, Ethan..." Ethan pumped his fist. Dil stared at Jack for a moment, then turned back to Felix. "And me."

Jack felt himself deflate a little. Not only did he want to go, but it almost seemed as if Dil left him out on purpose. Was he upset with him? Mark noticed Jack's disappointed and gave him a pat on the shoulder. "It probably won't be that fun anyway." he said, badly lying.

"Dil, are you absolutely essential to come along?" Felix asked, and Dil was taken aback. "Well, I mean, I guess not. But, it won't hurt." he replied.

Felix nodded. "Then I want you to stay here. We can send the scroll back by bubble, and when it gets there, you destroy it immediately. The quicker the better."

Dil stuttered. "D-destroy it? On my own?"

"You have Jack." Tyler pointed out, and Jack felt a little more confident.

"Yeah. Jack." Dil said to himself quietly.

"Then it's settled. Let's head out!" And like that, four gems warped away, leaving two behind standing around awkwardly.

"So, er, Cards Against Humanity?" Jack suggested. Dil merely said, "Not enough players." and turned around to walk to the kitchen. "Oh. duh." Jack said, watching the Garnet make some tea.

He wasn't sure what was up, since Dil was never super easy to read behind his dark and mysterious visor. But, Jack felt like they had been in a good place. They joked about things, hung out with the others, and generally were just nice to each other. But recently, at least for the past few days, it had seemed like Dil was avoiding Jack. And now, after that whole exchange with Felix, Jack suspected even more that Dil didn't want to be around him.

Unsure of how to proceed with the gem, Jack decided to try and focus on their job. "So, if we're waiting on a bubble then... maybe we should wait in the bubble room?"

Dil nearly dropped his teacup. "Last time you were in the Temple, things didn't really go great."

Jack laughed nervously. "Well, I'll just do what you say. I mean, I'm not going to destroy the whole Temple, right?"

Dil stood there silently, and Jack waited a few seconds.

"....Right? Dil?"

The Garnet spoke. "There is a.... very small chance you do."

"Ok.... good. Let's go." Jack replied quickly, trying to get the conversation over with.

Dil sighed and held up his hands. His gems glowed, and the Temple door opened. He walked to the door and turned to Jack. "Stay close, okay?" Jack nodded, and the two ventured inside.

To be honest, he had been so frantic last time he was inside that he didn't notice how amazing the inside of the Temple was. They traveled through a tunnel with walls so glittery that you'd think they were ingrained microscopic diamonds. Every once in a while you'd see a red crystal tube snake it's way through the walls, as if holding everything together. 'They must be the veins of that giant crystal heart I ran into..' Jack pondered, 'Maybe that's the core of the Temple.'

Dil stopped as the tunnel opened up into a large brick-laden room. A familiar well stood in the middle. "Hey.. I saw you here last time!" Jack exclaimed, looking to Dil, "Is this your room?"

"Not really?" Dil answered nervously, "It's where we house our bubbles, but I like spending time in here." The gem glanced up at the ceiling.

"Oh." Jack said, looking up to see hundreds of colorful bubbles. It was a beautiful in a way."

Dil rubbed his arm. "I don't really need a room, anyways. Besides, if I had one, I'd probably never see sunlight." Jack laughed, "I hear that." For a moment, the Garnet smiled, but that went quickly downhill when a new bubble appeared. Dil and Jack's eyes widened at the scroll inside.

Dil grabbed the bubble quickly as it began to convulse wildly, "Ok, this needs to be destroyed, right now."

Jack started getting panicked. "What do we do?"

The Garnet looked back and forth between Jack and the bubble with indecision spread over his features. "Ummm, I need you to... Uh... to....."

"Dil!"

"AAAARRG I DON'T KNOW!!" Dil yelled and slammed the bubble on the ground in a fit of frustration. Realizing what he'd done, all Dil could do was watch in horror as the bubble popped. Immediately, the scroll began to emit a black smoky cloud that pushed the two of them back forcefully. Jack got up quickly and rushed over to Dil.

"Dil! Dil, are you okay?" But the Garnet wouldn't answer, he was frozen in alarm. Jack watched as the smoke approached them menacingly once more, still growing. He felt the adrenaline overtake him as his gem began to glow. In a burst of light, he summoned his shield and sent it towards the cloud, knocking it into the lava well and destroying it. After catching his breath, he turned to Dil, more than a little pissed.

"What was that?! Look, I know you don't like me, but you don't have to get me killed over it!" he yelled.

Dil looked at him, astonished. "Jack..."

"You've been avoiding me for days! You barely even talk to me anymore! And you sure as hell didn't want to team up with me today!"

"Jack."

"Are you just refusing to work with me now, or-"

"Jack, I have Future Vision."

"......Say what?"

Dil sighed. "I can see the future, or rather, I can see possible futures. "

Jack sat down, taking it in. Future Vision. Dil could see the future. What the fuck.

In retrospect, it made sense. Always showing up when needed, always knowing where the corrupted gems were. But then.. why had he been so cold to Jack recently? Dil seemed to read his thoughts, and bowed his head.

"I'm so sorry, Jack, I really didn't mean for you to feel like this. There's nothing the matter with you, quite the opposite in fact. It's me."

"What?" The Irishman raised an eyebrow.

"Because of my Future Vision, the team has always relied on me. I have to make all these decisions and have all the answers. With me around, nothing takes the Crystal Gems by surprise." Dil looked up at him, "But then you came along."

Jack was dumbfounded. He had been so wrong about Dil.. The Garnet wasn't mad at him, he was mad at himself.

"At first I thought, it's just a fluke! But the more time you're on the team, the more times I'm wrong, and what if I put someone in danger, and-!"

"Dil, deep breaths." Jack held up his hands to stop the Gem from descending into madness. The Gem slowed his breathing and said something quietly that Jack could just make out.

"How can anyone trust me if I can't even trust myself?"

Jack thought for a moment. "Well," he replied, "You can start by trusting me."

Dil looked up. "What?"

"Trust me. Trust the team. I don't entirely get how this Future Vision thing works, but if there's always a possibility that we can win, then we will." Jack gave Dil an encouraging smile. Still unsure, Dil replied, "I appreciate that, Jack, but it's hard to be that confident in anything when I can't know the odds. Especially with a wild variable like you."

Jack laughed, "Well, this variable just kicked your ass at this mission, with or without the odds."

They both laughed and sat in silence for a while. Dil then pulled Jack into a hug, slightly awkwardly. As they pulled away with identical smirks, Dil chuckled.

"Thanks, Jack. It's good to be your friend."

"Uh, Dil?"

"Yeah?"

Jack meekly pointed at the evil black cloud forming in front of them, bigger than ever. They both jumped up and dodged to the side as a smoky tendril landed in their prior position.

"I thought I'd burned that thing?!" Jack exclaimed.

Dil jumped away again as the cloud struck. "Not all of it. It must have reformed as we were distracted."

"What do we do?"

"I-" Dil began, but hesitated. Jack summoned his shield to block the cloud as he saw the Garnet in distress.

"Dil!" He called, "Trust us!"

A familiar glint appeared behind Dil's visor, and the Garnet quickly summoned his pistols. "Block off that entrance and use your shield to drive the cloud back to the well! I've got the other entrance!"

They leapt into action, each firing all they had at the cloud as it shrank in on itself. In a last ditch attempt, the possessed smoke began to fly upwards, towards the ceiling. Dil leapt incredibly high, outracing it. His pistols glowed and combined together to create a much larger gun. Shooting straight down, he drove the cloud into the lava below. "Jack, lid!"

Knowing what Dil meant, Jack quickly made a large shield and cover the top of the lava well with it, like a lid to a pot. Dil landed next to him and they watched through the translucent green weapon and the evil dark smoke sank into the lava. The two of them let out a sigh of relief, with Jack leaning on Dil as his shield dissipated.

"I've never... made that many.... shields before..." Jack panted. Dil smiled, "Well, I'm not going to carry you."

"Darn it, so close."

On their way out of the Temple, Jack decided to bite. "Ok, what did it? Was my speech so inspiring that you got your mojo back?"

Dil laughed, "It was a good speech. I think it helped me look at things in a different way."

"How so?"

"All this time, you seemed like this unsolvable variable, this outlier that I had to work around. But you're not... don't get me wrong, you're still very strange to me.." Dil chuckled.

"Vice versa, ya jerk."

"..but you're not unknowable. In fact, I think I got to know you pretty well during this horrific experience."

Jack laughed, "Yeah, let's maybe pretend everything went off without a hitch."

"Hey, I'm all for repressing my reality."

When all was said and done, and the rest of the team warped back, Jack and Dil were considerably closer. Dil even finally joined the rest of the guys for a game of Cards Against Humanity. It wouldn't be until later that Jack realized you should never bring a gem with Future Vision to a card game. At least someone who wasn't rando won for once!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Me again! This is my last reposted chapter from Wattpad! I have a draft for a next chapter that's like half done, so I'll probably finish that sometime and post it. As for after that, I'll probably continue if it seems like people want to read this fanfic. If not, there doesn't seem like much point. Even if that happens, I'd like to thank Master_of_the_Boot1 for the lovely comments! You're so sweet! :) Have a nice day, everyone!


	10. Jumped by a big Bepis

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bepis - Definition - The bestest goodest girl in the world

It started about when Felix, Mark, and Ethan returned from their mission. As per usual, they had captured a dangerous gemstone that had been wreaking havoc somewhere, the desert if Jack remembered correctly. Felix was all business, carrying the bubbled gem straight to the temple. Ethan excitedly started telling Tyler and Jack all about how they defeated it this time around, gesturing and acting it out enthusiastically as he went along. Then, Jack noticed it. Mark was gone.

After most missions, Mark would either hang out with them or take a nap if it was particularly exhausting. But now he was nowhere to be seen.

"Hey, Ethan?" Jack asked, interrupting the story, "Any idea where Mark just went? He only got back a second ago."

Ethan look around and shrugged, "Huh, weird. Guess he's gone off somewhere. Anyways-"

Jack tried his best to listen and keep his mind off Mark's whereabouts. Besides, Tyler and Ethan didn't seem that fazed by it. He was probably in town or at Bob's or Wade's.

Mark returned later, and Jack almost forgot about the whole thing. Then, it happened again. And again. And again. Over the week, Mark would disappear for hours on end and deflect any questions about where he had been.

"I was just um.... doing push-ups in the ocean!"

"I just went to, er, get a sandwich! Then I.... threw it at a seagull."

"What's that? Oh hey I think Felix wants to ask me something byeeee!"

Then he'd dash out of the room.

Even stranger were the things he brought out with him. Jack had watched Mark leave with a very heavy looking paper bag, multiple volleyballs, and a hairbrush. Curiosity bubbled inside him until he felt like he would burst.

Then, one night, Jack woke up to see Mark sneaking outside the temple doorway carrying.... a log? What? That was the last straw, he had to get to the bottom of this. So, quietly, Jack got out of bed and crept closer, hiding in the shadows.

Mark's eyes scanned the dark cave, then he stepped on the warp pad. It activated with a flash and shot a stream of light straight up, carrying Mark away somewhere. Something in Jack pushed him forward, a little voice saying that it's now or never. He sprinted to the warp pad and dived into the light stream right before it dissipated.

He tried his best to regain balance, but he had only traveled by warp a few times. His attempts to straighten up were in vain as he landed on the receiving warp pad with the grace of a fish out of water.

"Ow..." he groaned, rubbing the sore spots as he stood up and looking around. On all sides of him were nothing but sand dunes, and he realized that this must be the desert Ethan said they had gone to. Looking down, he saw footprints leading forward.

"Welp." He said out loud to himself, "I'm in too deep now, I guess." And so he began his expedition, following Mark's footprints over dune after dune. Even though it was night, it was still warm, which did not make the sand trekking any easier. That, and sleep deprivation. In fact, after ten minutes, Jack was fatigued enough that he almost didn't see the object hurtling towards him.

"Woah!" He yelled in surprise, ducking out of the way just in time for the object to miss him. Turning around, he leaned over the log that almost hit him in the face.

"Why...?" He cut himself off as his ears picked up a kind of rhymic thumping... galloping? Getting steadily louder behind him.

Jack reacted too slow this time, only turning around face enough to get the wind knocked out of him. Something very large had tackled him to the ground. Once his head stopped spinning, he looked up to find himself face to face with it. Even if he hadn't been pinned down by its massive paws, he wouldn't have been able to move. He was petrified, staring into its glowing eyes. Then it opened its mouth and oh boy did it have a lot of teeth.

'This is where I die." Jack thought solemnly, embracing his cruel face, 'I'm gonna be eaten to death like Mark's Takis.'

As he scrunched his eyes shut in anticipation of the teeth, he was quite startled when he got the tongue instead. The creature licked him straight up his face, surely covering him in a bucket of drool. Just like that, it moved off him, and he felt like he could breathe again. He sat up and watched the creature gnaw at the log playfully, and it finally clicked.

It was a dog.

An extremely big dog.

The thing could've been big enough to take on a bear, but it was very clearly an oversized canine. Same floppy ears and wagging tail, same paws and fluffy fur you'd find on any golden retriever.

"Jack?"

The man in question turned to see a very surprised and sheepish looking Mark standing just on the overlooking sand dune. Jack merely pointed at the dog that was now rolling around and deadpanned, "Explain."

"Okay, so we were after this gem artifact, right?" Mark talked as the three of them strolled back to the warp pad, "It was making the sand go crazy, building and unbuilding towers and statues and stuff. We poofed it, bubbled it, and problem solved! Felix told me to scout around afterwards, see if there was any damage or injured people or anything, the usual. But then, I found her!"

Mark gestured gleefully at his newfound companion, and Jack couldn't help but smile back.  
"I have to admit, she's kind of cute. I wonder why she's out here in the desert? And why she's this big?" Jack questioned.

Mark shrugged. "It's no weirder than meeting a half gem half human kinda Irish person."

"Or a purple crayon man who can pull a sword out of his chest."

They chuckled, and Mark patted his newfound furry friend lovingly. "I've been sneaking out to take care of her, you know? Keep her company... and kind of for me too? She just makes me so happy."

Jack raised an eyebrow. "Why did you keep it a secret, anyways? Can't you just bring her home with us?"

The Amethyst shot up fast and waved his hands about wildly. "Nonononono, no way Felix would let me keep her!"

"Why not?"

"There may have been an incident... or five... in which a certain gem brought home a pet and things did not end... well." Mark replied quickly, hand rubbing the back of his neck guiltily. Jack rolled his eyes. "Uh huh, okay, so that was definitely you that you're talking about."

Mark nodded.

"And Felix won't let you have another pet?"

Mark nodded again, puppy dog eyes more realistic than the actual dog's.

Jack sighed, "I guess we'll just have to keep it a secret."

The Amethyst immediately lit up and rushed forward to hug Jack, squeezing him tight as the half human laughed. "THANK YOU SO MUCH I LOVE YOU FOR THIS!!" Then the gem darted back to his dog, giving her some good rubs. Mark letting go of Jack didn't feel as bad as it usually did, especially with the words 'I love you' echoing in the air. It must have been the desert heat, Jack was feeling so warm.

"Mark and Jack gotta go now, okay?" Mark said to the dog as he scratched her behind the ears. She whimpered, as if saying she would miss them. It was adorable and heartbreaking, not to mention backbreaking because of how Jack had to drag Mark away from her. The dog looked on as they got on the warp pad, watching their departure with big, soft eyes.

"Ok, you need to tell me all of those pet stories, though." Jack said as the light swept them away.

\---

Jack was sincerely glad that the other gems were busy today. It meant he could take a long nap in peace. That late night doggo excursion had really taken a lot out of him. But, just as he was nodding off that afternoon, the air around his face got really warm all of a sudden. He made the mistake of breathing through his nose and was hit in the face with a rank stench.

He groaned and rolled over the bury his face in his pillow. He figured something in the fridge had gone bad, but that was a problem for future, well rested Jack. Again, he tried to drift off, but felt something wet and sticky drip onto the nape of his neck.

"What in-?" Jack finally opened his eyes and turned over, only to be met with a familiar panting creature.

A few realizations hit Jack in that moment:

1\. He had just been drooled on.

2\. This dog had serious morning breath.

3\. Holy shIT THE DOG WAS IN HIS ROOM?!

"Aaaaaaaaah what are you doing here??" Jack yelled. The dog tilted its head in reply. The half gem looked around quickly, trying to figure out how in the heck this animal had followed him and Mark all the way back from the desert. As if on cue, the temple door opened and Mark emerged from his room unto the jaw dropping scene.

"CHICA?"

The dog whipped around and bounded towards the Amethyst and happily licked his face. "Woah there, easy girl, I'm happy to see you too! But... how...?" Mark looked up at Jack in confusion.

"Don't look at me! I have no idea how she got here!"

The look of confusion on Mark's face suddenly turned to panic. "We can't let the others see her! They'll tell Felix and then-!" Jack hopped out of bed and tried to help Mark shove her out the door. Unfortunately, halfway there, Chica decided she was in the mood to lie down.

"Chicaaaaaa. Noooooooooo." Mark groaned as they continued in vain to move her. As Mark struggled, Jack noticed the noise behind them. The temple door was about to open! Thinking quick, he jumped up to his bed and snatched the blanket off of it. In two seconds, he threw it over Chica, grabbed Mark, and plopped down against her in the nick of time.

The door opened, and out walked Ethan and Tyler. The two paused when they saw Mark and Jack sitting on a lumpy surface and smiling unnaturally.

"....What is that?" Tyler finally asked, a look of pure judgement on his face.

"What's what?!" Mark said a little too loudly, and Jack elbowed him. "Oh! You mean this! Well, um, it's a.... it's a..."

"You got a couch!" Ethan cried in excitement.

"Yes! A couch!" Mark agreed, patting the blanketed dog.

Jack looked to Tyler, afraid he had caught on. The Bismuth was in full on stone face mode, completely unreadable.

"It's really lumpy though." Ethan continued, eyes narrowing, "Where did you get it?"

"At the store!" Jack said at the same time Mark said, "At the dump!"

The Blue Pearl and Bismuth exchanged confused glances. Mark scrambled to correct himself, "Yeah, no, we got it at the store, but the store was a dump! Metaphorically!"

"Okay...." Tyler replied.

"So!" Jack started, eager to change the subject before their 'couch' decided to get up and walk around, "Where are you two headed?"

"Training." Tyler said, and Ethan nodded. "Yeah! We're gonna duel up by the lighthouse."

"Maybe this time you can actually beat me."

"Oh, it's on!"

The two exited the cave, waving goodbye before they were gone. Mark and Jack heaved a sigh of relief right before tumbling off the dog as she stood up and shook off the blanket.

"That was close." Mark said softly.

Jack stood up and made a mental note to wash the dog hair out of his blanket later. "Now what? We can't keep her in here, everyone passes through the cave. And if we warp her back to the desert, she'll just follow us back somehow."

Mark suddenly shot up, eyes bright. "She can stay in my room!"

"What?"

"Yeah! My room is huge, she'd love it there! There's plenty of space to hide her if anyone comes in, but the others tend to stick to their own rooms anyway. It's perfect!"

The Amethyst quickly lured his dog to the temple door with some leftover chicken nuggets from the fridge. Once there, the gem on his chest glowed in concordance with the purple stone on the door. It opened to the large crystal cavern that Jack had stumbled into ages ago. He forgot how amazing it was, what with the sparkling walls, the waterfall cascading in the distance, and the large shining crystals jutting up from the ground in clusters like a diamond bouquet.

The big pup immediately started padding around excitedly, inspecting every nook and cranny of the place. She seemed to like it, thankfully. Mark and Jack took a quiet moment to enjoy watching her.

"So." Jack broke the silence, "You named her Chica?"

Mark beamed, "Yeah! Doesn't she look like one?"

"It wouldn't have been my first pick."

"Aw, c'mon, she likes it! Don't you Chica Beeka? Yes you do!" Chica came over and licked Mark happily as he rubbed her belly. It looked as though she were smiling too, as much as a dog can, anyways. Jack laughed, "Alright, you're right. Chica's perfect."

Mark straightened up as Chica ran around some more and just smiled at Jack. The half gem blushed and looked away, so he didn't see that Mark was blushing too. He instead directed his attention towards the energetic doggo. "She's going to tire out eventually." he realized, "We should probably get her, like, a big cushion or something to sleep on."

"Oh, I know!" Mark led Jack over to an area cordoned off by hanging sheets. Jack vaguely remembered seeing those sheets the last time e was in here, and wondered what was on the other side. Mark drew the sheets back and Jack's eyes widened.

It was a space filled with snacks, a big, cushiony couch, and a TV with a video game console. There were some boxes stacked around the place filled with all kinds of things. T-shirts, dvds, games, more snacks. Off in the corner was a garbage can full of different weapons, and the walls were covered in pictures and photographs.

"Dude!" Jack exclaimed, punching Mark's arm playfully, "You never showed me any of this before! I didn't know you had games here!"

"Just a Wii!" Mark defended himself, "Bob has an Xbox, so I usually go over to his house to play stuff."

"You have so many Takis here, what even was that trip?"

"But there weren't any in the kitchen! That was a travesty!"

"You dumbass."

They laughed, then Mark pointed to the couch. "We can use these cushions for Chica's bed. I can get a proper dog bed tomorrow."

They hauled the three big cushions out of Mark's gaming area and next to a large crystal stalagmite group. After making sure the cushions were nice and comfy, the two stood back and admired their work. It looked great, but it felt like they were forgetting something. Jack was suddenly keenly aware that he couldn't hear the sound of a giant running around the cavern, and one look at Mark told him the amethyst had realized it too.

Chica was gone.

"Chica?!" Mark called. They ran around crystal after crystal trying to find her. Alas, she had disappeared completely.

"You don't think she got into any of the other rooms, do you?" Jack asked worriedly. Mark paused and thought for a moment. "I don't think so.." he said half-sure, "The only ways to other rooms from here are up the waterfall to Ethan's room and the tunnel."

"Tunnel?"

Mark nodded and pointed up to a ledge, far too high to climb, and no viable pathways up. Barely visible, Jack could see an opening in the cavern wall up there, the tunnel.

"I'm a gem, so I can jump up there easily. Chica.... well she..." Jack considered Chica being able to leap up that high. It wasn't out of the question, what with her habit of surprising them with what she was able to do. An extraordinary pup might just be able to jump extraordinarily high.

Mid-thought, Jack got swept off his feet. "Woah!" he exclaimed as Mark held him in his arms.

"Hold on." Mark warned, eyeing the ledge. Jack gulped and braced himself, holding tight to Mark. The gem bent down and then shot up like a bottle rocket, blasting off into the air. Jack was afraid they'd burst right through the ceiling, but in a split second they had landed on the ledge. Mark let Jack down, who wobbled a bit from the jump.

"You okay?" Mark asked. Jack nodded, doing his best not to look down. "Good. Let's go!" Mark took off running down the tunnel, and Jack followed, thankful to get away from that ledge.

They kept going until the passage ended at a familiar, creepy location. Jack swallowed hard when he saw that gigantic crystal heart pulsing at the center of the circular room. They had exited from one of several tunnels lining the walls, floor, and ceiling. Large veins from the heart extended down each entryway, including theirs, which caused Jack to wonder if this was the power center of the temple. Before he could ask Mark, however, a loud bark echoed from the tunnel across from them.

"Oh, no, Chica!" Mark yelled, and took off in that direction with Jack close behind.

"What's wrong?" Jack asked in between huffs of breath.

"She's heading straight for-"

Mark suddenly stopped and Jack crashed into his back. "Ow, why'd you..?"

Standing in front of them with his arms crossed was Dil, who looked suspiciously at them. "What are you two doing in here?"

Mark stammered. "Er, uh, we're just, um, taking a w-walk." Jack nodded fervantly in agreement, then tried changing the subject. "What are you up to, Dil?"

The garnet tilted his head. "I thought I heard something barking in the bubble room. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you Mark?"

"Uh, yeah!" Mark exclaimed, "That was me! You know, just barking.... like I do.... sometimes."

This explanation must've seemed a little more believable to Dil, since he shrugged. "Okay. I was just worried that you had adopted another pet. You know how Felix feels about that."

"Whaaaaaat?" Mark said a little too high pitched. Jack nudged Mark, and the amethyst cleared his throat. "Yes, thank you for the concern, Dil, but we really need to be to be going."

"Yeah, sure, no prob-" Dil's visor suddenly gleamed, and he tackled the two of them. "Get down!" A split-second after they hit the floor, a very large golden dog bounded past them.

"Mark!" Dil yelled.

"Okay, yes, I have a pet, but she's just so adorable, please don't tell Felix-!"

"Forget that, we need to get outside!" Dil yelled and started to chase after her. Jack and Mark shared a look and simultaneously decided to listen to the guy with future vision. They ran through tunnel after tunnel, eventually exiting the temple and entering the cave, which was shaking like an earthquake hit it. "What the-?" Jack asked in alarm as he tried to keep his footing.

Dil and Mark shared a panicked look and bolted to the mouth of the cave. Jack followed, and what he saw left his mouth agape. The beach was moving. Sand rose up and fell down in waves, making it difficult to keep balanced. And it the middle of this chaos was a big golden pooch with a gem in her maw.

"Chica!" Mark yelled, voice filled with concern, "Don't play with that! It's not a ball!"

Chica tilted her head and promptly dropped the gem in the sand, which made the unsteady waves of sand grow stronger. Mark smacked himself, "That's not what I meant!"

Dil grabbed Jack and pulled him away just before a column of sand shot up where he had been standing. "The gem is using the sand to try to rebuild it's fortress! If we don't stop it now, it'll build right through the town!"

"What do we do?" Jack yelled over the rumbling of emerging sand structures.

Mark summoned his sword. "We need to get that gem off of the sand!" He sliced through the column and through the dust cloud Jack could see a gleam of light reflect off the precious stone. "There!" he pointed to it, and the three of them charged forward.

"Chica?" Mark called out as he ran. While he was distracted, two walls shot up on either side of him and began to come together. Jack started off toward Mark, but Dil waved him off. "I've got him, keep going!"

With a quick nod, Jack ran at the gemstone. Just as it was about to be in his grasp, a column rose up from underneath, taking the gem with it. Without thinking it through, Jack grabbed hold of another rising column to follow it.

He clung as the columns raced into the air. Then, finally he had caught up with the gem. All he needed was to reach it from a few feet away. He stretched so much his muscles ached, but he refused to give up. The second he had the tiniest grip on it, he snatched the gemstone victoriously.

He realized his mistake as soon as he looked down.

Whatever fortress this gem artifact was building had a state of the art security system, razor sharp spikes and all. Jack clung to his pillar in terror, but his grip didn't hold long as the sand constructs began to crumble. Soon, there was nothing left to hold onto and Jack was plummeting to the spiky ground.

"MARK!" He screamed as he fell, closing his eyes. Impact came sooner than he'd thought it would, however. Also, the ground felt less spiky and more floofy. Gingerly opening his eyes, he sighed in relief as Chica carried him to safety on her back. Once they were on solid ground again, he scratched her behind the ears. "Good girl.... very good girl..."

"Jack!"

Mark and Dil rushed over, Dil quickly bubbling the sand-shifting gem while Mark helped Jack dismount Chica. "That was amazing!"

"Chica was amazing, she saved my life!"

"Who's the best girl in the world?!" Mark exclaimed. Chica rolled over and he rubbed her belly. "And we managed to fix this situation before anyone noticed!"

Dil cleared his throat suddenly, and pointed behind them. Jack and Mark went red at the sight of a certain rose quartz narrowing his eyes at them.

Felix approached with an annoyed expression and Mark stepped in front of Chica. "Listen, Felix, I know your rules about pets but she's so special and adorable and I promise this won't be like with the flamingo-" Their leader ignored him and walked past him to look at the big dog. She stopped rolling around and sat in front of him, the two looking into each other's eyes for a few seconds. Finally, he sighed. "She can stay."

Mark cheered and even Jack and Dil couldn't help but smile. Still, something nagged at Jack. Why had Felix looked at Chica that way? It seemed strange. Then again, who was he to know what was strange anymore?

"You won't regret this Felix!!"

"I better not." He said, "And please, keep her out of the bubble room from now on."

Mark saluted him. "Never again!"

Immediately after he said that, Chica bounded off again, Mark chasing after her as the rest laughed. This wasn't going to end well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kinda like I can't end my chapters well, lol.


End file.
